


You Say Bark

by Nolfalvrel



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Adorable Connor, But really more of an attempt, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Connor (Detroit: Become Human) Whump, Connor Deserves Happiness, Connor gets transferred into an android dog, Cutesy, Especially Markus, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Good Parent Hank Anderson, Hank Anderson & Connor Parent-Child Relationship, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, No one can deal with how cute he is, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Pacifist Best Ending (Detroit: Become Human), Protective Hank Anderson, Protective Upgraded Connor | RK900, SPOILER he goes back to being an android at the end, Sumo is excited to have a friend, but it's mostly baby whump with a lot of fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:20:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22826275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nolfalvrel/pseuds/Nolfalvrel
Summary: “Oh my God you’re fuckingadorable.”Connor rests in the shell of a cavalier King Charles spaniel. Apuppyshell, making him incredibly dainty even compared to the diminutive size of an adult of the breed. He’s ruby, say for the barest patch of white that makes a thin river between his ribs, flowing up to his jaw. His fur is cut tight but glossy. His ears are long and floppy, and his tail is a long trail of floof.Gavin’s one hundred percent correct.He is adorable.---------Through a series of unfortunate (fortunate) circumstances, Connor is stuck in the body of a dog, and nobody can cope.
Relationships: Connor & CyberLife Tower Connor | RK800-60, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900, Connor/Markus (Detroit: Become Human), Hank Anderson & Connor, Hank Anderson & Connor & Sumo, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 24
Kudos: 204





	You Say Bark

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [and puppy dog tails](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15657513) by [puppyblue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyblue/pseuds/puppyblue). 



> There was a convo on a discord server about dog!connor in DBH, and the tagged fic, and then my hands practically wrote this one themselves because i have no self control. Another fic of mine that features dogs and Connor and love...
> 
> ONE MAJOR POINT! Markus is referred to a few times as 'the Herald'. It'll be explained later on that this is the name the media appoints him as the android leader, but I want to touch on it here because I know it may confuse some people.
> 
> I'll probably be adjusting this a few times but I have to go soon and just needed to post (◕ᴥ◕)

“You know, you’re actually almost tolerable like this.” 

Connor glares up at Gavin as the man leers. His scar is a faded sketch over his nose, emphasizing the meaner aspects of his green eyes. He rests on his elbows, hip cocked, bearing over the flat metal table.

“I’m inclined to agree,” Sixty echoes. It’s strange to see his own face so cruel. Twisted in a vindictive, smug expression, as Sixty ignores Connor’s noise of distaste to scrub a hand roughly through his hair.

Or, rather, fur.

The entire set up is rather unorthodox, even if through strained logic, it makes sense. Or, probably would have made sense prior to deviation being a thing in Detroit. Right now, Connor whines as the scrubbing increases intensity.

“The idea of sharing the same opinion as you over anything is fuckin’ disgusting,” Gavin says blandly, mouth pointedly downturned. The small, minute part of him that claims ‘humanity’ in dying embers brings Gavin to Connor’s rescue as he pulls the android from his twin’s grasp. He lifts Connor to eye level then, grin becoming a bit more candid. “That Frankendouche-bag really did a number on you, hey?” He snickers. 

“Oh my God you’re fucking _adorable_.”

Connor rests in the shell of a cavalier King Charles spaniel. A _puppy_ shell, making him incredibly dainty even compared to the diminutive size of an adult of the breed. He’s ruby, say for the barest patch of white that makes a thin river between his ribs, flowing up to his jaw. His fur is cut tight but glossy. His ears are long and floppy, and his tail is a long trail of floof.

Gavin’s one hundred percent correct.

He is adorable. 

In any other situation, Connor would probably malfunction over being in the presence of such a dog. But _being_ the presence of such a dog is a much different experience. Especially when the experience is comprised of being ogled by two of the three people on the planet that absolutely despised his inner circuits. 

“Can he still talk?” Gavin asks, looking at Chloe. The girl is watching them with her signature megawatt smile, clearly not understanding the potential for spiteful revenge before her when she answers.

“Unfortunately, since the SOS request was so last minute, Elijah has not had enough time yet to configure a sufficient code-to-speech module that won’t conflict with the pre-existing voice prompts for the UDC700.”

“So… that’s a no?” Sixty asks, reaching to pet Connor again. He growls. Sixty hisses.

“Connor can only make puppy noises!” Chloe confirms. 

Sixty and Gavin exchange glances before staring at Connor.

Before they can do more at Chloe’s admission, the door to the tech room bursts open heedlessly, and both men whip around while Chloe looks on in passive curiosity. A woman heaves in the doorway, strawberry blonde hair pulled into two Dutch braids that swing with momentum, and her eyes search the room angrily until they land on Connor.

“Guys! Markus! Here!” She calls loudly. She’s joined quickly by two tall men that slide behind her and hit the door, one fair and pale, the other a dark rich skin. They all hover as though waiting for permission to enter.

Finally, a fourth figure skids into the group, eyes wide and inquisitive, one an electric green, the other a cool deep blue. He fixates on his target with little prompting from his friends.

“Connor!”

 **[Hello Markus.]** Connor replies, only it’s a short bark, and his tail wags almost without permission.

He’s removed from Gavin’s grasp when Markus charges inside, and inspected gently. If somewhat uselessly. Markus’ job prior to the revolution had been to care for people, not animals, so he barely does more than tilt the dog back and forth and then raise him skyward to peer under him. He shoots a fierce look at Sixty. “Explain to me again what happened?”

Sixty tells him.

The background, acute—Connor had been shoved into the circuitry of a robotic dog.

The background, long, was that said shoving had been performed by an oxymoronically notorious underground android butcher, Josef Jon Gheist. Known to make questionable modifications for questionable owners prior to the revolution. In the nine months since, instead of birthing a new persona and emerging an upstanding— or at least marginally better—citizen, Gheist had sunk lower into his pit, tearing apart stray deviants and forcing them into his experiments.

That was, when he wasn’t performing exceptionally illegal reboots for underground android slave markets, with the cases of complete data loss that were exponentially piling up on Hank and Connor’s desks very much equivalent to _murders_.

So, very much like the dog he’d been regulated to, when Connor had received a ping from what he originally thought was a panicked, disassembled, barely functioning android, but now knew was a trap laid by Gheist, like a man tossing a stick, he had chased.

And ended up said panicked, disassembled, barely functioning android. 

He’d charged into the basement alone, _‘Terminator’_ style as Hank often scoffed, so he really only had himself to blame. Markus’ philosophies about collective responsibilities pushed far back and deep on a dusty shelf. The minute he crossed the threshold, the LEMP had discharged its full might and he’d ended up in a dark and dingy horror of a room, suspended in an ominous parody of a crucified man. And he’d known, in the few short moments of in-and-out wakefulness, watching Gheist’s blue-splotched pig mask bob before him, that no one would be coming for him, because he hadn’t told anyone where he was going. 

He’d closed his eyes, resigned.

Opening them again had most certainly been a surprise. Especially when it had been to see Sixty’s grimace. 

“You know I hate you, but everyone else loves you, so you’d better not end up dead,” Sixty had gritted to him. Tucking him into his chest, dragging Connor’s mutilated real body behind him.

The RK800 neural upload network. Apparently, they’d all forgotten about that.

 _Fortunately_ , they’d all forgotten about that.

When the _‘Invalid Transfer’_ alert popped up in the Garden, Sixty had grasped firm hold of the message, all but ripping the line of code back to its source. And because he was the second face to Connor’s coin, he’d done the exact same thing as him bar one action.

He’d called for help.

Then Terminatored himself through Gheist’s lab. _Successfully_.

“Then Detective Reed rushed here with Chloe to perform emergency repairs on Connor—”

“And then I notified you,” Chloe interjects, grinning proudly.

“—but since Connor is missing several key components, we can’t reverse the transfer without irreversibly and tragically shutting him down,” Sixty ends, sounding as though it would be not so tragic.

Markus frowns at that, and the heavy connotations of Connor being a failure throughout Sixty’s rendition, but seems to put it to the side momentarily. He starts, “Did we manage to catch—”

“Unfortunately, since Connor’s status was critical, I focused on his recovery instead of pursuing Gheist,” Sixty cuts him off, easily interpreting Markus’ question. “Which is why he was able to escape. Nines and the Lieutenant are still after him. They intend to meet with Special Agent Perkins in Cleveland this morning. The information I pulled from Gheist’s files, prior to him initiating a meltdown, indicated he had a bolt hole of sorts there.”

“Ah,” Markus replies, his face hardening and fingers squeezing slightly at the mention of the ‘Jackal’. Connor whines a little at the pressure. The Herald starts, guiltily rubbing a hand over Connor’s head.

Which is a bit miffing, because it’s demeaning to be pet quiet by _Markus_ of all people. Sixty leers knowingly, but returns to neutrality when one the woman with braids, North, continues to question him. “We’re absolutely positive that this thing is Connor?” 

Connor kicks his legs at what’s being insinuated, concerned, but the other RK800 gives a confident nod. 

“Yes. I was able to decipher the command log when I first received the message about the transfer being performed on Connor, which is why I knew to take both bodies when Gheist ran. His entire memory log was moved onto it’s hard drive, including his personality functions.”

“So there was absolutely no data loss? Or, y’know, old programs activated?” North insists.

“From what I have observed, Connor’s coding is completely stable at the moment,” Chloe takes over, and North immediately appears more agreeable. 

“A-ah, okay.”

“Gheist’s experiment was essentially a personality transplant, from a Cyberlife host to a Cyber Wildlife host. The data construction of both forms are nearly identical. However, I’ve installed a monitoring program from Elijah. I sent the alert functions for Connor’s status to all of you, as well as Nines and the Lieutenant, as a safety measure.” 

“Thank you,” North mumbles.

“Don’t mention it!” Comes the bright response. Sixty squints at them both with intrigue.

Markus asks Connor softly, “Was the experience painful?” Drawing the puppy out to arm’s length. The expression on Markus’ face is surprisingly tender, and Connor reasons that the Herald is probably what the Lieutenant would call a ‘dog person’.

 **[No, I was offline.]** Connor yips twice, waving his paws. Immediately frustrated when Markus blinks at him.

“He can’t talk,” Sixty answers. “However, he wasn’t online during the transfer or our attempts to reconfigure him.” 

Then, a bit of his inner spite finally seeps through the impassive shell. “But if there is a higher power, he felt everything anyway.” 

Sixty collapses in the next moment from a sock to his pump.

“North!”

“He had it coming, Josh,” North responds fiercely to the dark man that had protested, crossing her arms in challenge as Sixty straightens. The wincing RK800 subtly moves to the other side of Gavin, effectively putting the human between them. As though that particular friendly-fire wouldn’t be more incentive for North to start swinging.

“Maybe Sixty deserved it but you also hit the technician upstairs and almost shoved over an officer when we got here—” Josh lists the victims with his fingers.

“—Standing in our way, _also_ standing in our way—” North starts a list of her own, voice mocking.

“—We can’t exactly be an organization of peace if everyone keeps catching you on camera beating people.”

“I beat androids too! One of those videos was of Simon.” The blond man groans.

“Please don’t drag me into this,” Simon pleads tiredly.

“North, Josh, Simon, enough,” Markus commands, Simon making a protesting face when his name is also called. “If you can’t behave seriously, you’ll wait in the car.” He winks at Connor when he says this, who cocks his head. Awkward as usual in the face of the man’s familiarity. 

While Connor and Markus tended to interact often due to work necessities, their current positions, with Markus’ hands wrapped firmly around his ribs, certainly expanded the instances of seconds-long contact exchanged between them by at least a factor of ten. Although it’s admittedly not uncomfortable, he doubts Markus would ever even shake his hand eagerly. Let alone hold him, considering the numerous fumbling interactions before where Markus had politely avoided any and all touching between their persons. Though he’s always been congenial—exceptionally so, Nines always remarks darkly—with Connor, they’ve probably interfaced a total of three times to date. Markus smiling stiffly at every dodged interaction. Tending to laugh it off, trying to ask about strange topics instead. Such as his work day or favourite colour.

Odd. As Markus strokes his chin subconsciously with a thumb, Connor slowly realizes that his lack of ‘autonomy’ might be being confused with lack of ‘personness’. 

In response to her friend’s threat, North’s mouth grows large as a mudskippers. Josh’s eyes bug. However, another look from Markus has them fighting to be quiet instead of complaining. “Is there any other way for Connor to communicate instead of just barking?” 

“Elijah is working on that.” Chloe snaps shut a square, pulsing box. It had carried the various parts and tools used during their desperate attempts at a reverse operation. She deposits it on the other gurney, where Connor’s normal body lays connected to an infestation of wires. “He can send pre-established prompts to a phone using the existing ‘CyPet’ ap, so Elijah is writing some additional code to allow Connor to use the ap for more expanded correspondence. He should be sending the update ASAP via a patch, but it will take a couple days.”

Markus eyes the gurney with the immobile RK800 suspiciously. “He… remembers our agreement about Connor’s body right?”

“Of course! Necessary maintenance and prep for return only. Elijah is very fond of his balls, but he does not like the taste, so he is taking Hank’s threat to make them into soup very seriously. He told me so himself.” Chloe smiles.

“Er, right.” Markus tucks Connor over his shoulder, which is frustrating since he now has to crane his very tiny neck to stay involved. “Good then.”

“Remind him he has other body parts too,” North mock whispers to Markus, who hisses back, “Shut up.”

“It should take about a week for Elijah to print everything necessary for reconstruction, but I’ll be sure to notify you with any delays,” Chloe pulls a long black cord from the box and loops it over her shoulder like a purse, before expertly starting to disconnect cables from Connor’s prone form. 

“Would you like help with that, Chloe?” Sixty moves closer as she tugs Connor’s torso upright. “I can carry—” She pulls Connor over her shoulder in one smooth motion, then turns and beams.

“No thank you!” Chloe struts past them all, back perfectly straight, heels clicking happily as she fireman carries the android body to the entrance. As she walks past, Gavin whistles lowly, and North not-so-subtly checks her out, suffering a smack from Josh.

As she reaches the doorway, a tall white shape slides into view from the hall, smoothly turning the glide into a walk as he enters the room, LED flashing momentarily with Chloe as she goes past. Information clearly exchanged, the newcomer, an RK900, does not slow, quickly making his way to the others.

“Connor…?” Nines queries, and Markus reveals the small dog tucked into him. He’s immediately liberated of Connor, which he doesn’t fight. He’s been putting up with Nines’ possessiveness for a long time, and tended to fold easily to appease the other. Yet, this time, Connor sees that Markus can’t entirely suppress a glare that’s quickly covered by Nines’ shoulder as he turns.

Nearly smiling, he inspects his predecessor. “I failed to anticipate how small you would appear.”

 **[You’ve returned early.]** Connor tries to ask. **[Did you catch Gheist?]** He recognizes the absence almost immediately after. **[Where’s Hank?]**

“…Is that your new voice module?”

“He can’t talk,” Markus jumps in quickly. It’s become a game of telephone, from one group to the next, it seems. “We’re waiting on an update from Kamski.”

“Elijah's gonna’ send it through to us soon,” Gavin adds, moving comfortably into Nines’ space as they continue to ignore Connor’s questions about his partner. 

“Understood.” 

Exempting Markus, the other androids have stepped back. Deviant or not, Nines still exhibits all the characteristics that come with being the last android ever modelled. From precise movements to perfect speech, to cold eyes that track sudden movement, it manifests in an ‘offness’ that has most of his kin avoiding being within arm’s reach.

Though, in a pursuit, that would really never matter for the RK900.

**[Is Hank interrogating Gheist? Or was he hurt? Did they take Hank to a hospital?]**

The young android quirks a brow at yet-to-be silent Connor. “Does he just… autobark?”

North plays idly with a braid, trying to appear casual. “Maybe he’s malfunctioning. We should call Chloe back.”

“Maybe that just happens when he sees someone he likes?” Gavin suggests, and oddly Markus momentarily looks crestfallen. Simon, noticing, hastily interjects.

“I think he’s just trying to talk to you. He’s probably curious about why you’ve returned so soon?”

**[Thank you Simon.]**

At the question, Nines’ face shutters behind an impassive wall. “Special Agent Perkins conducted a search of the Cleveland address and concluded based on its demolished state that it was a dead end. Gheist has effectively gone into hiding.” His icy gaze flickers to Markus, “He decided it would be best if we continued the investigation in Detroit.” 

“That lousy sack of shit,” All of them turn to see Hank, slightly out of breath, stomping into the room. “Also waited until we were halfway there to have his wet nurse give us a phone call. _I’m calling to inform you_ ,” He mocks, then gives a righteously dirty look to Nines. Who is unfazed. “Thanks for waiting asshole. Where’s Connor?”

Nines holds out the dog, and Hank stares. 

**[Hank!]** Connor greets.

Then Hank does something strange. His face contorts and reddens, as though he’s fighting several strong emotions from the surface. Confusion. Disbelief. Amusement wins out and Connor’s ears practically flap with the bellows of laughter that spue forth.

“You’re fucking joking, right?”

 **[Lieutenant, this is an incredibly serious matter.]** Connor chastises as Nines says seriously, “I am not fucking a joke, Lieutenant Anderson. This is Connor.”

Hank scoops him up almost excitedly. His hands easily engulf Connor’s small form. “Oh my God, he’s like a tiny, fragile Sumo.” 

**[Sumo is a completely different breed, Lieutenant!]**

“Actually, he’s a different breed than your current dog, Lieutenant.”

“Connor is residing in a UDC700 form, which is constructed as a separate breed from St. Bernard’s, Lieutenant Anderson.”

“Oh Jesus,” Hank says, waving the air with a freed hand as though he can fan away the voices of the three— _two?_ — latest androids. “Shut the Hell up. I’m not a complete imbecile, I can recognize a fucking dog.” He pauses then, “So how long are you stuck like this then Connor?”

Connor remains quiet, suddenly miserable, waiting for the inevitable humiliating reply. Several voices rush to aid him.

“Connor can’t speak.”

“He’s mute Anderson.”

“He’s mute.”

“Connor’s vocal components were not compatible, Lieutenant.”

"We have to wait on an update from Kamski before Connor will be able to communicate."

“What the fuck—are you all timing these things?” Hank turns a glare on Jericho and Gavin now, before processing what was said. Instead of laughing, as expected, he’s quiet, before he frowns deeply. “So wait… in the meantime, if somethings happening to him that he doesn’t like, or if he needs help, he can’t tell us?”

There’s a round of silent glances. It might be a cute puppy form, but Connor has still been trapped in a different body to his own, without his consent. Unable to interact and communicate with his family and friends as he had previously. Connor feels a bit strange at the reality being spoken aloud, making it firm and tangible, but barely has time to think on it further. The conversation is moving on again.

“How long is he like this?” The Lieutenant demands gruffly, loudly, and most of Jericho jumps. Josh speaks up tentatively. 

“Kamski is apparently asking for a week at the minimum to repair Connor’s old body.”

“Well, I guess that decides it then,” Hank states, somewhat derisively. His eyes levelling on Markus, clearly indulging no argument. The Herald draws himself up tall anyway, gaze narrowing. “Since I’ll probably be the one who actually gives enough of a crap to make sure he’s taken care of, Connor’s staying with me.”

“Lieutenant, please. Chloe might have managed to stabilize Connor for now, but his state is still fragile. He needs to be in Jericho. We have technicians that can tend to any malfunctions that might occur as a result of Gheist’s tampering.”

“I already listened to all this during your call, and I already told you, I’m not letting Connor go anywhere alone again.”

“He won’t be alone,” Markus asserts. “I’ll be there.”

That gives Hank pause, and he snorts, and the temperature of the room seems to drop as Nines glowers at the Herald. “Wait, are you a qualified android technician?”

“No,” Nines answers for him sharply. Markus frowns.

“Well then he’s no better off with you than me. But at least I’ll give a damn asking him what he wants.”

“That’s not true. I care about what Connor wants just as much as you do, Lieutenant. I only meant that I wouldn’t let Connor out of my sight. If he’s with me, at Jericho, I’ll be able to have a technician follow us around in case of emergencies.”

Hank scoffs. “What are you gonna’ do, whisk him around to your important meetings in a baby carrier?”

“What are you planning to do? Carry him into a shoot-out shoved in your holster?” Markus retorts, finally having enough. His freckled skin is tinged scarlet, and it makes his eyes glow fiercely. Josh steps forward, placing a calming hand on Markus’ shoulder as North smirks her approval at the rebuttal.

“We all need to remain calm here. Lieutenant, your concern about being away from Connor is completely understandable. But please also understand that Connor is important to us too, and we want to ensure he is protected,” Josh approaches gently, keeping his demeanor soft. “I’m sure there’s a way we can come up with a compromise.”

“Yeah, sure, you get visitation rights between the hours of two and four A.M.,” Gavin finally pipes up, tittering, tickled at his own joke. North actually seems impressed for a moment, but she speedily smooths out her expression with a look from her male counterparts.

“A reasonable compromise,” Josh clarifies. He looks thoughtfully at Hank. “Will Connor be allowed to accompany you to work?”

 **[Of course. I can still assist with the investigation.]** At his own enthusiastic reply, Connor’s tail wags subconsciously, and he gives it a curious look. 

“If need be, yeah.” They both seem to take no notice of the barking.

“Would it be the safest environment for him?”

Hank’s resolve weakens minutely. “Mostly. I wouldn’t take him on a call.”

“Meaning you’d leave him at the station. Alone.” 

The iron reasoning is starting to look more like weakening stone as Hank avoids the question, stroking Connor’s ears. “He’d be safe there. There are plenty of cops. And Nines, of course.” Internally, and now silent, Connor agrees. Hank is making the same arguments he would. He ruminates on how he’ll need to adjust to not being taken out on calls, and how he’ll have to work even harder to support the team from the station.

Josh, however, has a counterpoint.

“But not plenty of cops familiar with android functions. And if Gheist is still in Detroit, I doubt they wouldn’t immediately call in Nines for assistance if they need to bring him in. If something happened during that time, Connor wouldn’t make it.”

“So you’re saying he should stay with you, sleeping where there are plenty of androids that still haven’t buried the hatchet about what Connor used to be?” Hank snaps out, pulling Connor defensively to his chest now. The former android startles a bit at the warmth and being squished. Hank is definitely touchier nowadays, with head and shoulder pats, and a mix of high fives, but hugs are still… very rare. It’s not unwelcome.

Josh’s response is smooth. Still only suggesting. “He should stay with us only while you’re at work, or working. Whenever you’re not, Connor can remain with you at home.”

Hank blinks. And the stone crumbles and falls away. He says uneasily, “That… doesn’t sound too bad actually.”

**[What?]**

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to leave any comments about grammar/syntax/something not making sense, because I tend to do 'the mistake' often! (laugh at my humour)
> 
> If you enjoyed also feel free to leave a comment letting me know! <3 and remember that kudos are free!


End file.
